With the proliferation of electronic articles in today's world, a need has arisen for ease of manufacture and a personalization of these articles. Various bulk purchasers of electronic articles require unique physical specifications for the final product. This has led manufacturers to look for basic building blocks for their products. One solution has been for manufacturers to place circuitry common to their manufacture on integrated circuits. This solution is limited to circuits which have components or suitable substitutes which can be placed on an integrated circuit.
Another approach to the goal of personalizing electronic articles is the peripheral slots located within the personal computers of today. Most personal computers (pc's) have slots within the pc for receiving computer peripheral "cards". In this manner a pc owner can purchase his preferred computer peripheral cards and insert them into the provided slots. The drawback with this scheme is that room has to be set aside within the pc for the cards. Also, the slots are specially manufactured so that they can physically hold the cards within the pc. The electrical connections are maintained by separate contacts which are composed of several components to guarantee a reliable electrical connection.
Neither of these solutions are acceptable for use in electronic articles where the room cannot be set aside for slots and cards, and the circuitry is too complex and/or composed of elements unadaptable for integrated circuitry. Complex circuits used in articles today are composed of several integrated circuits. Also, many electronic articles are used today in a manner which requires firm physical and electronic connections within the article. For example, some articles are worn on the person. Other end users of articles specify that the article be able to withstand various forces placed on it either through expected user negligence or usage of the article in a hazardous environment.
Thus, what is needed is modular electrical circuitry blocks which can be joined in a variety of geometrical shapes for providing a personalized shape to the resulting electronic article. The blocks need a means for providing firm electrical and physical connections between the blocks.